Friday, December 5, 2008

Community Portrait of New Bedford, Massachusetts

"The earth has got to be very shifty to get out of the grasp of a people equally at home on land and water." - Thomas B. Reed.

New Bedford, Massachusetts is best known as a whaling era seaport and today is the number one fishing port in America. With a rich history, a designated national park in its historical downtown and an authentic working waterfront, the city of New Bedford today continues a remarkable transition from an economically depressed mill town to a culturally significant tourist destination.

Part of Bristol County, New Bedford is situated on the Southcoast of Massachusetts. A coastal city and a major seaport, bordered on the west by Dartmouth, on the north by Freetown, on the east by Acushnet and Fairhaven, and on the south by Buzzards Bay. These towns along with New Bedford were once all part of what was once “Old” Dartmouth, but were divided up throughout the towns’ history, dating back to the 1670’s.

New Bedford has a population of approximately 100,000 residents, including the nation’s largest Portuguese population, and a large Cape Verdean community as well. Visits by New Bedford's whale ships to the Portuguese Islands in the eastern Atlantic, the Azores, Madeira, and also Cape Verde resulted in the immigration of many islanders to America. The New Bedford Historical Commission explains that this began in the 1830's or possibly even earlier. Today, Guatemalan and Mayan people are the area’s newest immigrants not only in New Bedford, but all around southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island. They, like the Portuguese people of the past, are drawn to this area by the maritime and fish-processing operations.

Economically, New Bedford relies on fishing and manufacturing for the main industries in the area, and the local newspaper, The Standard Times reported recently that due to the expansion by local employer Southcoast Hospitals Group, it is now one of the top ten employers in the state of Massachusetts.

The port of New Bedford is one of our nation’s major fishing ports. In dollar value of the catch, it has been number one for the last several years. The fish sold here, and the fishing industry’s many shore side businesses, provide major support for the city’s and region’s economy. Seafood harvesting and processing contributes $5.5 billion to the New England economy and $850 million to our local economy. The fishing industry employees over 15,000 people in New England and 3,500 people in New Bedford, Fairhaven, Dartmouth and surrounding towns. Many people who work in the fishing industry are from families who have fished or done fishing related work for generations (Nelson, 23).

Tourism has become a growing industry in its own right and there are many fairs and festivals in the area over the summer and fall months that attract large numbers of visitors to the city. The most famous annual event that attracts hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world is the “Feast of the Blessed Sacrament”, or the “Portuguese Feast” that is held each summer in July. Begun in 1915 by Madeiran immigrants, the Portuguese Feast helped them to recreate the religious festivals that were so common in the villages of their home island and to commemorate their safe passage to America; this traditional mid-summer gathering is for family and friends and has become the largest Portuguese Feast in the world.

Another festival that has been attracting attention for some years called the Working Waterfront Festival, is held each year in September, celebrates the culture of the workingwaterfront, and features many exhibits and activities designed to educate the public about its history and to give them a glimpse of the experience of a life at sea.

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New Bedford, Massachusetts

An Authentic Working Waterfront

Working Definition of Community

Being a member of a community isn’t always easy. In a world where friends can be a click away but a thousand miles apart, where you can be next to someone but can’t talk except via instant messaging, and where you don’t know your neighbors next door but you do know intimate details about your friends across the country on Myspace, a venture into community requires a trust in an unrelated network of people.

Whether communities are defined by geographical boundaries or by the categorization of who belongs to a community and who does not, both are essentially the same, as Cohen suggests “boundary marking processes and rituals are a vital tool for defining community, identity, belonging and exclusion, and give a sense of reality to specific communities, although in fact they are merely mental or social constructs of insiders and outsiders”.

In addition to the idea of community being a group of people with a common interest, be it geographical location, social clubs, religious beliefs or ethnicity, communities can also be influenced by external events beyond their control. With the current economic situation it seems like there’s more call for help and more people in need of support and assistance. In chapter 1 of Community-ariasm, Smith explains how the term community is both shaping and being shaped by society itself, in an endless loop or re-creation. Economic situations, new technologies, available education, and social opportunities are just some of the factors that can contribute to the way in which communities are shaped, and if they are sustainable or if they will eventually die out.

Even a concept as malleable as community has a common thread, however. In the various readings and articles we have covered so far, the idea of community being a vehicle for self-actualization is touched on repeatedly. One of the key benefits people get from participating in community and their reciprocal relationships is a sense of belonging that is a part of their individual identity. “People construct community symbolically, making it a resource and repository of meaning, and a referent of their identity’ (Cohen 1985: 118).

Another defining aspect, which also contributes to the constant flux of the definition of community, is that even though individuals can experience a sense of self through them, often communities are more than just the people who are in it. A community can continue to exist even as its individual members move through it, and as new members enter into it, the community itself can remain rather unchanged.

Aristotle tells us that community requires different kinds of capacity, interest and character among its members because through the interplay of diversities, people are able to serve as compliments of one another and to attain a higher and better life by the mutual exchange of different services. The phrase “sense of community” begins to get at this meaning. It refers to a sharing of common beliefs that involves a connection at a more personal or emotional level. Words like “passion,” “devotion,” and “commitment” also come to mind when discussing the concept “sense of community.”

It is usually assumed that when people feel that they belong to a community, they have an active interest in ensuring that it functions well and are more likely to contribute to the well-being of the community. The emphasis on a collective well-being over individuals is a large part of Community-ariasm which has a focus of interest toward communities and societies and away from the individual. Smith’s explains in Chapter 3 of Community-ariasm that as long ago as 1955 George Hillery listed some 94 definitions of community he had found in the social science literature, and concluded that the only thing they all held in common was a reference to people.

From our class readings so far, it is evident that the definition of community continues to shift and evolve, and the introduction of modern communication methods, i.e. instant messaging, internet, cell phones, etc. have contributed significantly to the rapidly changing idea of community on a global scale. Even with the constant change and the difficulty in defining exactly what community is, it seems clear that the strength of ties between the groups, no matter what the subject matter is, is truly the essence of definition of community.

Media and Community Building Conclusion

The boundaries of Community can sometimes be drawn on a map, other times it is a category of people or characteristics of members. (Smith) As a communication tool, community media is beginning to adapt to emerging technologies and the ever-sharpening interactive features online. As a result, community boundaries continue to change and realign, creating a new generation of members with a constantly-evolving sense of community.

In this enviornment, the media landscape will be reshaped by the bottom-up energy of media created by amateurs and hobbyists. (Blau) As an empowerment tool, it is among the poor and oppressed especially, that community becomes a means to group solidarity and mutual help. (Smith) Because Community Media is able to operate independent of traditional corporate influences, public access to Community Media is vital to the democratic health of a community.

Community Media is an effective means of citizens interacting with community leaders and politicians, and an invaluable tool for holding them accountable when necessary. Community Media is also a gateway for the enrichment of educational opportunities for community members who do not have private access to new technologies or who need assistance in utilizing them. The future of Community Media is an exciting prospect, as new technology allows for the dissemination of information with an immediacy never seen before, as well as a rapidly evolving web that features more and more interactive features for the consumer.

All of these exciting technologies require us – the consumers- to be well educated and informed as to who the source of the content is, as well as hone our abilities to discern for ourselves which of these technologies adds value to our individual lives and which don’t.